I am interested in iconic objects that society perceives to fit one role, and then reintroducing them in different subtexts. There are several questions that arise when an object(such as a crayon) that is so often associated with childhood is used to address issues dealing with more adult matters. The sculptures are childlike in their curious approach to the object as icon, but intriguing and satisfying to me in the use of pure color as form. Larger room installations also add the element of playing to the olfactory sense. I hope that this body of work is my most successful in adding to the greater visual dialogue of original art. My intent is to continue to seriously create art that looks at itself unseriously.

I am the only individual in the world with an account with Crayola. I get these colors individually packed 3000 to a case. I cut down the sticks to the length I need by hand with either double guillotine cigar cutters or large breed dog nail clippers. I then bond the paper, not the wax, to a form I have carved or cast, completely enveloping the form. Lately I have been casting the completed crayon sculptures in a silicone jacket mold with a two-part epoxy resin and then painting the resin sculpture to look like the original, for a small edition. The sculptures beg to be touched, so when they are cast it makes the handling of them that much easier. (from http://www.herbwilliamsart.com)

image: Herb Williams in his studio

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications

Sydney, Australia – The search for the world’s Next Star Artist heated up on Sunday night when the ten finalists of the Next Star Artist competition (http://www.nextstarartist.com) for visual artists were announced.Artists from all over the world took part in the competition which aims to identify a visual artist who has the potential for success but needs guidance and direction to succeed.

The winning entry will be chosen from the ten finalists by an esteemed panel of judges all of whom have the knowledge and experience to determine which of the finalists has the greatest potential for art market success.The winner will be announced on the 27th of June and will receive three months of mentoring by art critic, art market analyst and art consultant Nicholas Forrest as well as an extensive online publicity and promotion package.

More than 250 visual artists from all over the world submitted their work to the controversial competition that was started by Sydney, Australia based art market analyst and art critic Nicholas Forrest.Frustrated with the large number of talented visual artists that go unrecognised, Mr. Forrest took on the challenge of finding and mentoring an artist who had the potential for future stardom and a hunger for success which resulted in the creation of the Next Star Artist competition.

In announcing the finalists Mr. Forrest said “Although I am unable to assist anywhere near as many of the talented but unrecognised visual artists as I would like, the Next Star Artist competition will at least provide one more source of encouragement for the world’s visual artists.”

Deciding who the ten finalists will be for the Next Star Artist competition has been an extremely difficult and long process but after having delayed the announcement for a week due to the overwhelming number of awesome entries I can now reveal the ten finalists, one of whom will be the Next Star Artist. Without further adieu, the ten finalists of the 2008 Next Star Artist competition are:

Congratulations to the ten finalists !!! Information on each of the finalists and images of their work will be posted on the Next Star Artist (http://www.nextstarartist.com) website in the next few days. The judging panel will now be given the details of each of the finalists and will have until the 26th of June to make their decision so that the winner can be announced on the 27th of June.

Good luck to all the ten finalists and thanks to everyone who entered.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

The search for the world’s Next Star Artist (nextstarartist.com) is about to heat up with the ten finalists to be announced on the 8th of June.Once the finalists have been selected from the more than 250 entries, a top secret judging panel will assess the ten finalists and decide which entry possesses the greatest potential for future stardom.

The Next Star Artist competition is the brainchild of art market analyst, art critic and art consultant Nicholas Forrest who became frustrated with the huge number of talented visual artists being ignored by the art market. In recognition of the unrecognised talent, Mr Forrest decided to start an art competition that focused on commercial potential and saleability as opposed to traditional art competitions which focus more on aesthetic attributes.

According to Mr. Forrest, “The reason that I created the Next Star Artist competition is that I come across so many fantastic artists who either do not have the skills to promote themselves or are just not in a position to take advantage of the promotional opportunities that are available. I have undertaken extensive research on the promotional opportunities available to artists and have successfully promoted several artists online using various different techniques. The success that I have had has been extremely encouraging and has given me the knowledge and tools needed to implement the Next Star Artist competition. I am extremely excited to be able to offer this opportunity to the world art community and wish all the entrants the best of luck.”

Artists from all over the world submitted entries to the Next Star Artist competition which closed on the 23rd of May with the hope of winning the major prize of three months of mentoring and promotion by art consultant Nicholas Forrest.The winner will be announced on the 27th of June on the Next Star Artist Website at http://www.nextstarartist.com.

For more information visit contact Nicholas Forrest by email at info@artnotice.com

Due to the overwhelming number of entries (way more than I expected) that I received for the Next Star Artist competition, there will be a delay with the announcement of the ten finalists. In order to properly assess all the entries I will have to delay the announcement until Sunday the 8th of June instead of the 30th of May. I would like to apologise for the delay but am not prepared to announce the ten finalists until I am totally happy with the entries that have been chosen. Once the ten finalists have been announced on the 8th of June the judging will begin after which the winner will be announced as per the original date of the 27th of June.